Controversy Over New As I Lay Dying Statement

Earlier today (April 9), a statement was posted on the official website of As I Lay Dying. The lengthy post covered many subjects and seemed to be a well thought out, cooperative statement from the entire band. However, according to guitarist Nick Hipa, no member of As I Lay Dying's instrumental section, management or record label took part in crafting the update.

The statement claimed that, among other things, As I Lay Dying had not been a Christian band for a long time, that vocalist Tim Lambesis and drummer Jordan Mancino were the only official members of AILD, that Mancino along with the bands most recent members were beginning a new project with vocalist Shane Blay, and that Lambesis would be starting yet another project on his own.

This was stirring testimony, especially due to Tim Lambesis' recent guilty plea to murder-for-hire charges. There was no signature at the end of As I Lay Dying's letter to the fans, and according to a post from Nick Hipa's personal Facebook page, Tim Lambesis is the only one with access to As I Lay Dying's website.

While not denying what was stated in the aforementioned statement, Hipa writes:

Good day friends,

This morning an update was posted over at www.asilaydying.com on the current happenings and individual futures of all the bands' members. For Jordan, Josh, Nick, Phil, management, and record label, this was an interesting first time read as all parties were oblivious to its construction, intent, and release.

Though Tim is the only one with access to the As I Lay Dying site, the rest of us have been releasing content through our personal social media accounts to reveal that we are carrying on in a new band. Our truest intentions were to make this unveiling interesting and exciting for anyone who has supported us over the past year. With information so instantaneous and disposable these days, we had hoped to show you how things were coming together rather than simply tell you.

We never want to capture attention dramatically, which is precisely why we've been off the radar for close to a year. Though the third-person statement released earlier compromises a lot of how we had hoped to unroll things, we remain positive in our outlooks and look forward to sharing new music soon.

With love and gratitude,

Jordan, Josh, Phil, Nick

This new development brings new questions to As I Lay Dying and its members, but it also confirms what the instrumental section of the metalcore act has been teasing. Jordan Mancino, Phil Sgrosso, Nick Hipa and Josh Gilbert have formed a new band. Hipa also implies that Tim Lambesis was the sole individual who wrote the post, although we cannot report it as fact.